MODERN HISTORY

PRELIM COURSE
LIZA CINA

THE CIVIL WAR

1. Introduction

Brief Context

● Early 19th C.- population of 4 million. Agrarian society.

● Politically isolated.
● Mid 19th C.- Massive immigration- population exploded to 23 million.
● Many Europeans had fled to escape conflict, persecution, revolutions or were worn out by the long
Napoleonic Wars.
● Many believed in the ‘American Dream’ of hard work as the way to success.
● Yet all the same the economic, social and political forces that were shaping the young nation also
played a role in the development of conflict there.
● The US Civil War was fought between two factions: Union- in the North (Yankees), Confederates in
the South (Southerners)- their aim was to leave the union (secede) and create a separate country.

Why is it significant?

The Civil War almost destroyed the US. If the South had been victorious there would now be two countries
occupying the area of what is now the USA.

It was the Bloodiest war in American history. More than 600 000 Americans died in the four year period.

More Americans killed in the Civil War alone than WWI (115 000) and WWII (318 000) combined.

Abraham Lincoln’s (Republican) leadership of the North was a key reason for the survival of the Union.

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Selectionalism

Division of America into different economic and social regions. Each section of the country wanted political
and economic decisions to favour its particular needs.

Northerners: wanted free land to be made available for independent farmers

Southerners: wanted slavery extended to newly settled western states

How it became an issue

1818- 11 free and 11 slave states in the American Union, 1820- territory of Missouri applied to become part
of the Union as a slave state

Free states concerned with admitting Missouri as it would give slave states greater representation in the
federal government.

Solution: Missouri Compromise (1820)- Missouri would be admitted as a slave state. Maine to be admitted as
a free state. No further slavery would be accepted north of the Mason- Dixon line. Tariffs also caused
sectional issues.

Increase

Due to westward expansion- more territories were added to the Union. State suspicions increased and the
balance between slave and free states became harder to maintain.

1849- debate over California (gold rush territory) asked to be admitted as a free state. Compromise again. Cali
was free while territories of Utah and New Mexico could self-determine their own slave policies. Above
agreements only temporary solutions.

1854- Missouri Compromise challenged when Congress passed Kansas-Nebraska Bill. These territories were
north of the Mason- Dixon Line and given right to vote on slavery or freedom.

Why War?

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Issue of slavery, sectionalism and states’ rights was central to the cause of the American Civil War

Historian James McPherson points out that the Southern states jealously guarded their way of life and what
they saw as their legal right to hold slaves. They also feared that the more populous North, growing rich on
trade and industry, threatened their independence and way of life.

Economic and Social Differences

2. Slavery and Human Rights

The effect of Slavery on the South

Out of eight million Whites, about 380 000 owned slaves in 1860. Nevertheless, the class of rich landowners
with slaves, known as planters, controlled the South. Slavery might have helped the Southern economy in the
short term, but some historians argued that it discouraged the development of new industry and new ideas.
Without slavery, they argued, Whites would have to perform menial jobs; with slavery, the Blacks performed
such tasks, keeping the Whites in a class above. Southerners were critical of developments in the North,

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where Whites did manual work in harsh conditions in factories, claiming this created inequality among Whites
and was, therefore, contrary to American ideals.

Life for Slaves

In the 1800's slaves had to suffer the following:

● They were regarded as ‘chattels’.

● Could be separated from their families and sold to different ‘masters’. Whites tried to eliminate
memories of their past and culture.
● By law, slaves could not own property, leave their master’s land without permission, be out after
dark, join groups of other slaves, carry guns, ever hit a White person (even in self-defence), or learn
to read or write.
● Whites could kill slaves without penalty.

Occasionally, slaves did gain their freedom. Some managed to get extra work and save money to ‘buy
themselves’ from their owners. Some slaves were set free in thanks when their owner died. For the most
part, however, slaves gained their freedom by running away. Free Blacks and ex-slaves played an important
part in the Civil War; for example, they made up 10 per cent of the Union Army.

Dred Scott - Person or Property

The Kansas-Nebraska Act appeared to many Northerners as a victory for the slave states. In 1857 the
Southern-Dominant ruled that congress had no rights to prohibit slavery in the territories. The court had
ruled in the case of Dred Scott, a slave whose master had kept him for some in years in Illinois and Wisconsin.
He sued for his freedom on the grounds that his residence in the free states had made him a free man. Chief
khar Roger Taney, a former slave owner, delivered the court's decision that:

● Slaves were property and so could not become free by moving out of a slave state
● Slaves were not citizens of the US and had no right to sue in Federal court
● American laws prohibiting slavery in the territories were unconstitutional

The abolitionists

The Abolition movement aimed to bring an end to the institution of slavery and emancipate the slaves. The
morning news of 16 October 1859 reported a raid on a government weapons arsenal at Harpers Ferry in West
Virginia. John Brown, a slavery abolitionist intended to distribute weapons to runaway slaves who would

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establish themselves as a republic of former slaves. The South feared a full-scale slave revolt encouraged by
abolitionists like Brown.

To many in the North, John Brown was a hero in the fight for freedom and human rights of slaves; in the
south he was regarded as an insane and violent abolitionist. He was captured, tried for treason against the
state of Virginia and hanged.

The Story of Slavery

In an 1851 edition of a newspaper called the National Era, a serialised novel about slavery appeared. It
became one of America’s best sellers - the most effective piece of propaganda in the Abolitionment
Movement.

In 1845 an inspirational autobiography ‘Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave’ was
published. Douglass had been born into slavery and been taken from his mother as an infant, he was sold to
the Auld family. Sophia Auld broke the law when she taught him some letters of the alphabet, he then went
on to learn to read and write.

In 1838 he escaped slavery by boaring a train with ID papers provided by a free African Americam seaman. He
joined abolitionist groups and became one of the most influential personalities of 19th century American
History. He conferred with Abraham Lincoln and ran for vice-president in 1872. Critics agreed that a black
man could never have written such a sophisticated work. His freedom was eventually purchased by British
supporters.

3. Causes of the Civil War

The debate among historians and writers about the causes of the Civil War has been going on for a long time.
ere is, however, general agreement about some of the causes:

● the different views of politicians in the North and South about states’ rights under the US
Constitution
● Fear in Southern states that slavery would be abolished by the government
● Westward expansion of US settlement; as more territories became states, this created increasing
tensions about the balance of states for and against slavery
● The election of Abraham Lincoln as president in the 1860 election

The South and States rights

The Northern view was that the Federal Government was dominant and its authority was greater than that of
the states. In the South, there was a strong belief in ‘states’ rights’: the idea that the rights of individual states
were more important than the Federal Government. Southern politicians argued that if they disapproved of

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 the Federal Government, they could leave the Union, because the states had joined the Union of their own
free will and were therefore entitled to leave whenever they wanted.

States’ rights crisis in 1832

A clash between the state of South Carolina and the Federal Government about states’ rights erupted in 1832.
South Carolina was against the new tariff law; they claimed that the law favoured the Yankee Northern states.
Political leaders in South Carolina argued that any federal laws that were not in their interests could be
declared void or nullified by the state.

Slavery and the growth of the Abolishment movement

The abolitionist movement had gained strength in the North during the 1830s. In the 1850s, the issue
resulted in a split within the Democratic party into Northern and Southern Democrats and the emergence of a
new political party, the Republicans. To Southerners, slavery was part of their way of life. When people in the
North started to speak out against slavery and demand that it be made illegal, Southerners saw this as
another example of the North trying to tell them what to do. Tension between North and South was stirred
up by events such as John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859.

Lincoln's election and the start of the civil war

The Republican candidate for the presidency in 1860 was Abraham Lincoln. His main opposition, the
Democratic Party, had become so badly divided over slavery that they put up two candidates, one from the
North (Stephen Douglas) and one from the South (John Breckinridge). Lincoln won the election with strong
support from the North, even though he was hated in the South, where people feared that he would ban
slavery.

The new president made it as clear as he could that he would not force the South to give up slavery, but the
Southerners were in no mood to listen. As soon as Lincoln was elected, Southern states began to leave the
Union. 1 was South Carolina, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. They became
the Confederate States of America on 4 February 1861. Later – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North
Carolina – also broke away from the Union to join the Confederate states, bringing the total to 11.

4. Course of the Civil War

Key Battles
Battle/ Date Winner Casualties Significance
First Battle of Bull Run The Confederates won this battle 22,000 It was the first major battle of the Civil War
(1861) with 20,000 people in comparison to and a setback for the North. It was a surprise
the Unions 30,000. The union ran that the South won, the Union army and
back to Washington civilians who had come to watch had to flee
back to Washington.

Battle of Antietam (1862) The Union army (87,000) won at an 24,000 The bloodiest single day of war, the
enormous cost, the Confederates commanders of the Union army had been
(50,000) withdrew. replaced recently.

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Vicksburg (July 1863) Union won the invasion
Gettysburg (July 1863) Union won, Confederate army
retreated and was on the defensive
for the rest of the war.
19,193. Confederacy surrendered It gave the Union command of the entire
29,495 Mississippi river, cut Texas off from the rest of
the Confederacy and badly weakened the
South’s transport and supply system. Brought
General Ulysses Grant (Union) to national
attention.
50,000 The bloodiest battle of a war, Gettysburg,
probably the last real chance the South had to
win. Worst battle that General Lee fought.

Grant’s campaign in The North won because it Union 359 000, Confederates 258 A series of bitter battles. Of these four battles,
Virginia could afford more losses. 000 men only Spotsylvania could be called a Union
victory. However, Grant kept moving south,
putting Lee under continual pressure.

Sherman’s campaign in Union won, Confederates 3,1000 Meanwhile, another Union general, William
Georgia surrendered Sherman, captured the city of Atlanta and then
set about destroying
the economy of Georgia. Railway lines were
torn up, crops and houses were burnt and
livestock were killed. Sometimes, the
Union troops got out of control, robbing and
bashing civilians.

Grant at Appomattox, 9 Union Won, the Confederate’s 652 Confederate General Robert E. Lee
April 1865 general finally surrendered surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to
Union General Ulysses S. Grant

The roles and experiences of different groups during Civil War

Roles of different groups and the impact of the war upon them varied according to the location, class, age and
gender of the people involved.

Poor and working-class men → most of the fighting. Industrialists in the North → grew rich. Civilians in the
South → suffered more, with homes, crops and towns destroyed, food shortages due to the blockade
imposed by the Union

The role of African Americans during the Civil War

African American men were given the chance to fight for the North and against slavery + 30 000 free Black
men joined Union armies. September 1862 → Lincoln’s government issued 'Emancipation Proclamation' =
slavery would not be aected in states that returned to the Union before 1 January 1863, but that any slaves in
Confederate territories won by Union armies would be freed. By the end of the war, almost 200 000 Black
men, mostly ex-slaves, had enlisted in the Union Army or Navy.

The role of women during the Civil War

In the South, lots of men went to fight, women took on numerous tasks, both to feed their families and to
support the war effort. Worked long hours as farm labourers and assumed new roles supervising slaves and
managing plantations. In towns in both the South and the North, women took on jobs normally done by men,

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such as secretarial and clerical work. More women also went to work in factories; in the North, an estimated
one-third of factory workers were female, working mainly in the textiles and shoe- making industries.

Reasons for Union Victory

Primary reason = more men and resources, larger population, was able to field more than two million soldiers
during the course of the war; more than double the number of Confederate soldiers. Its industries were able
to manufacture weapons, clothing and other materials in much larger quantities than the South. e North also
controlled almost all the navy vessels. e South could not compete in any of these areas because it was
primarily agricultural. e steady, calculated and at times inspirational leadership of Abraham Lincoln was also
an important contributing factor.

5. Immediate Consequences and Legacy of the Civil War

The immediate consequences of the war were the preservation of the Union and the emancipation of four
million slaves. More than 600 000 men had died during the war, with hundreds of thousands more left
wounded or disabled.

Immediate Consequences for the South

When the war ended, Confederate soldiers returned to their home states, and women returned to their roles
in the home. The South now faced a massive task of rebuilding, ruined cities, railways and crops. However,
the Federal Government did not treat the Southern rebels harshly. The President pardoned Southern leaders,
and returned land that had been confiscated during the war.

The end of slavery

In January 1864, the US Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. This
didn’t ensure equal civil rights or an improvement in social status for Black Americans. The 15th Amendment
to the Constitution, introduced in 1869, gave Black males the right to vote, but this was not always enforced
in the Southern states. After the war, some ex-slaves moved north, but most remained in the South and
became ‘sharecroppers’. They lived and worked on plots of plantation lands as tenants, paying their landlords
a share of the crops they produced. Their day-to-day lives were free from White supervision but they were
not economically independent because of their debts to landlords. Segregation of Black and White

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communities in the South continued, and Black people were still treated as second-class citizens. It was not
until the mid-twentieth century that African Americans achieved basic civil rights.

A united nation

The shift of power to the Federal Government, and dominance of Northern values of innovation and equality,
accelerated the nation’s development towards an urbanised and industrialised society, which would become
a world power in the twentieth century.